Stepped up fun: Clogging, square dancing on tap

After a busy day full of outdoor festivities, Mule Day visitors can venture to the Ridley 4-H Center for two evenings' worth of singing and dancing fun.

After a busy day full of outdoor festivities, Mule Day visitors can venture to the Ridley 4-H Center for two evenings’ worth of singing and dancing fun.

Beginning at 6 p.m. Friday, Kentucky cloggers Morgan and S’lena Hudson and the Mule Town Stompers will entertain crowds, followed by Tony Malugin and 2011 Mule Town Idol winner Katie Stewart. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children.

The Mule Town Stompers is a group of 20 cloggers who have been dancing together for about 30 years. Willard Murphy, who is helping organize the evening’s events, and his wife Donna have been members of the Mule Town Stompers for 18 years.

“It’s always a good time,” he said. “We always have hundreds of people out to see the performances. It’s a good way for people to relax and enjoy the show.”

Clogging is a toe-heel dance that originated in the Appalachian Mountains in the mid 1700s. Influenced by Irish, Scottish, English and Dutch-German traditions, cloggers wear shoes with loose taps to dance in time with the music with the heel keeping rhythm.

The rhythm-fueled fun will continue Saturday with the Saturday Evening Square Dance at 7 p.m. in the Ridley 4-H Center. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children age 6 and up. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own chair, as the facility has a limited number.

The square dance, featuring callers Frank Fite and Bobby Russel, provides visitors with one last hurrah before the end of the week-long festival. Spectators and dancers alike can enjoy line dancing, two-stepping and waltzes, a buck dancing contest with music provided by Sugar Ridge and award-winning fiddle player Steven Alonso.

Friends of Maury County Park will have concessions available for sale at both the clogging event Friday and the square dance Saturday.